Baby Steps
by Tandy
Summary: 5xR Wufei wants to be left alone to lick his wounds. Relena wants to mother him back to health. Rating may change.


A/N: Unbeta-ed read at your own risk.

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Colony LZZ-4

_Men, _Relena thought, with some disdain. The white knuckled grasp on the cane was telling, at least to her; experienced as she was in the ways of stubborn ex-gundamn pilots. This one was particularly vexing, and by far the prickliest of the lot. Which was why she leaned toward him slowly, carefully entwining her arm through his, offering her support silently, willing him to stop being so damn stubborn and just let her bare some of his weight.

As expected, Wufei did the opposite. He stiffened, and would have probably done his outmost to remove himself from her grasp had it not been for the crush of people that surrounded them. Relena tightened her grip, and shot him a look that brooked no argument, but as Wufei did not even glance at her it went unnoticed. Testament to how much pain he was in, he eventually gave into Relena's tenacious hold. Slowly the death grip on his cane slackened, prompting a small sad smile of victory from Relena.

Maybe, she thought, she needed his support too. Up in the stage the families of the fallen stood, some crying some proud, as the name of their loved one was called. Seven dead. Seven medals. What a paltry thing.

Wufei's weight on her grounded her; let her grieve for the fallen soldiers without spiraling into regret and guilt. There was nothing to be done except be thankful to the soldiers for preventing the terrorist attack that could have very well escalated quickly were it not for Preventers. Peace was a constant struggle and not without its costs.

When it was over, she waited until the crowd dispersed before venturing out with Wufei. His gait was slow and heavy, and Relena could hear him breathing harshly. "You should be in crutches, hell, in a wheelchair."

"I did no seek your assistance."

"No, you did not. You would have rather tortured yourself for hours before asking for anyone's help. There's pride and then there's stupidity, Wufei. Now do try to hurry before anyone notices us and tries to engage us in conversation, you look like you're about to drop."

"Quite the Florence Nightingale, aren't you?

"Would you rather I hoist you onto Quatre?"

He uttered something in Chinese, which she was fairly certain was curse. "No."

By the time they got to her rental car, Wufei was visibly shaking. Relena refrained from reprimanding him, although the look she sent him did the job better than words. "You're staying at the Regis?"

He nodded.

His face was pale, the shaking had stopped, but his face still was lined with pain, yet he still sat broomstick straight in the passenger seat. "Relax, there's no one here but me. I won't tell anyone that you're actually human."

She could tell him that it wasn't weakness, that it was ok to show pain and fear, that it wasn't his fault but she would be wasting her breath. They had been under his command, the seven that had died, and the others that had been wounded. No one blamed him except, she suspected, himself. Her hands tightened on the wheel with the effort to keep quiet all she wanted to say. He wouldn't want to hear it, and the only purpose they would serve would be to make her feel better.

She took his side again when they arrived at his hotel, winding her arm through his and offering her shoulder for support. In his floor, first making sure that there was no one around, she swung her arms around his torso. "Shut up," she said before he complained. "There's no one here to see you."

With one defeated grunt his body slumped into her. Relena braced herself and together they waddled awkwardly to his room. Too tired to fight further, he didn't protest when she leaned him against the wall. "Key?"

"Wallet"

"Hmm." She said and dug into his back pocket without hesitation.

"It's in my jacket pocket, pervert."

"My mistake."

Once inside the hotel she let him drop unceremoniously on the bed. She turned him over, started talking off his shoes.

"I'm not an invalid, Relena. Stop treating as if I were."

"That's not my intention," she said taking off the second shoe. "Besides, I'm almost used to this. Duo has a tendency to imbibe in excess. More often than not, I'm his designated driver."

"Do not compare me to that mongrel," he said. Despite his words he stayed still in bed, and the words lacked any real bite. Relena had a tendency to hover, some people tolerated it, some people liked it and some, like Wufei were likely to murder her for it. She was unsure what to do, wanting to nurture, but knowing it would be rebuffed. Oh well, she thought, she couldn't just leave him like this.

"Sit up, le me help you take off your jacket at least."

"Woman-"

"Don't woman me, the sooner you humor me the sooner I'll leave."

He sat up with visible effort took off his own jacket and gave her a look that she had seen on her two year old niece when she was cranky. "Do you need anything else? Water? Food?"

"No."

"How much pain are you in?"

He stubbornly clenched his jaw.

Instead of arguing she went straight to his luggage, digging through the neatly folded articles of clothing without regard to the frowning man on the bed.

"Don't."

"Who's going to stop me? You?" His frown deepened, and like always, it had no effect on her. She was much too used to frowning boys. She found was she was looking for in a small compartment pouch. Three bottles of pills, all clearly labeled with instructions. Without saying anything, she uncapped the appropriate dosage and took him a bottle of water.

"Now we can do this the easy way or the fun way. Which will it be?"

"Woman-"

She used the opportunity to shove a pill into his mouth. "I guess the fun way it is. That one is for pain." She handed him the glass of water. "Two more to go. Do not, I repeat, do not dare to spit it out. I can do this all day. And stop glowering, I've had guns held to my head, I've been held hostage, I've been used as a human shield, so forgive me if an injured man isn't going to have me quaking in my stilettos."

"You are impossible."

"So I've been told." He took the pills from her and swallowed them in one go. "Why are you being so stubborn about this? All you're doing is injuring yourself further."

"How is this any of your business?" He snapped.

"Everyone is worried about you. You won't talk to anyone and you disappear for days and then you show up looking like this. I'd like to think we're friends-"

"Do you?"

"Friendly acquaintances?"

"Hardly even that. You're a pushy female with a savior complex that I happen to mostly tolerate on account of your political standing."

"You must really be in pain if that's all you can come up with."

"Just leave."

"If you need anything-"

"Go."

She wanted to smooth the locks of hair that were escaping his ponytail and rub away that awful frown line and wipe away the sheen of sweat on his pale face. She squeezed his hand instead, and smiled as she said goodbye.

Once outside his room, she dialed Heero's number. "He looks awful," she started, when he answered. "Just awful. He's not taking his medication and he's using a cane."

"We're supposed to give him space."

"What was I supposed to do? He showed up at the ceremony unexpectedly, barely holding himself together."

"Let him be."

"But-"

"I checked his medical records. No amount of surgery or physical therapy will restore his leg. He is fortunate he still has it. He just got assigned to a desk job, a big promotion, but he won't see it like that. Just let him be for now. I know you, and I know you won't be able to help yourself, but try not to smother him. I'm telling you this, because he's been assigned to Cinq. As soon as his doctor clears him, he will start as the new Director. Try to let him be."

Easier said that done, she thought, when all she wanted to do was run back into the room and hug him. Wufei looked beat. It was heartbreaking to see such a proud man brought so low. He didn't want her, or anyone else's, help. Although it went against every instinct she possessed she would do as Heero said. For now.

TBC


End file.
